Warrior QR Pro

[Cosmic 178]

Stick Details: Warrior QR Pro

Flex: 100

Curve: W88 Zetterberg (RH)

About Me:

Height: 6'2

Weight: 220lbs

Shoots: RH

Playing: 3 times a week- Defense and Wing (stick in use for 5 months)

Highest level of play: Beer League

Recent sticks: Bauer Totalone Tapered shafts and Easton Mako II shafts (both with Warrior Dynasty AXt1 blades)

Aesthetics: To each their own. I find this all black/ mostly black trend that we are in the midst of, to be a bit boring myself; but I also found the older, busy Warrior style (ie- Dolomite) obnoxious, and thus much prefer this more refined, classy style. I want a yellow stick with blue accents, to match my team uni, but I understand that this is a future custom project that I will need to undertake.

Blade 9.5/10

I tape every part of the blade that comes in contact with ice and puck, for durability purposes. This blade has a nice pass dampening effect, but also allows pucks to jump off of it when shooting. The blade is rather stiff, especially compared to the Warrior Dynasty AXT1 blade. With the Dynasty blades, I found that they got a bit floppy at the toe, after the same time of use. With this blade, it is still as stiff as it was when I first bought it. Being a bigger player, I prefer a stiff blade (that is what Easton claims the research shows, and I tend to agree, personally in my experience). It is hard for me to comment on puck feel, as I am still new to the game, and have never used a stick that people say has great puck feel, so I would not know what to look for/ feel.

Shaft/Flex 9.5/10

I find that the flex seems true. This features Dagger Taper, designed to get shots off quickly. All it takes is a gentle flick of my wrists, from anywhere inside the blue line, and I am whizzing shots on goal. Granted, these are not the hardest shots, as they may be if I really leaned in with proper technique. I like to just put the puck on net first, fast, and foremost, and then ask questions later. This is admittedly not the purest of hockey styles, but it works- sometimes my shots go in, often they cause rebounds, and never has anyone scored against us, within 1 minute of my having fired a puck on the other net. My passing is another story.

Stickhandling/receiving passes 9/10

The blade feels soft when catching passes, definitely not pingy. I do need to look down often when stickhandling. I am not sure if this is due to lack of good puck feel/ lack of feedback as to where the puck is, or if my lack of experience and poor hands/ stickhandling is getting in the way.

Shooting 10/10

This thing is a cannon. In warmups, when I unleash the big clapper, the puck jumps at the goalie. I generally shoot more wristers in games, and the puck comes off fast and quick. With the TotalOne tapered, I felt that my wrist shot experienced horrible lag. I mean, with the QR Pro, the time it takes for me, from time that I decide to initiate a wrist shot, to the puck either hitting the goalie or finding its way to the back of the net, is about equal to the time it took with the T1 from the initiation of the shoot, to just simply get the puck off of the blade face. Of course, distance matters. I am picturing a shot from just beyond the offensive zone face off circle dots, but still inside the face off circles themselves.

Weight and balance 9/10

Light and well balanced. Not as light as the EK15, but perhaps better balanced, so that the 56 gram differential in weight does not feel like 56g.

Durability 10/10

I am pretty hard on my sticks, in the general/ natural flow of the warm up/ game (but I am otherwise gentle on the stick).

Hard on stick: I like to take big slapshots in warm ups (just to warm up). I also am known for slapping guys' stick blades rather hard when they have the pucks on their blades. I also have taken alot of hard shots to the blade, in trying to help out my goalie.

Easy on stick: I do NOT tap my stick, ever (I never call for passes as I prefer to just chase rebounds and do not like to give away my location, and I think it is unsportsmanlike to call for passes when the other team has the puck). As mentioned, I tape the entire blade, and am generous in wax application. So, this may be adding to the shelf life.

After about 60 hockey sessions,, the stick has sustained nearly zero damage. Subtle nicks and scrapes, but nothing structural. It is rather impressive.

Intangibles N/A

This is a great stick, at a great value. This is a true OPS at a $200 price point, and it is as light as many competitors' top of the line sticks, with some durability features thrown in. I cannot really find anything not to like, about the stick itself. The only complaint I have, is that my preferred curve is not available. The W88 suits most of my needs (height, rocker, depth, spot where the curve is, lie), except that it has a slightly open face. Anyone who has been paying any attention to my posts, knows that I struggle to keep the puck down, and thus prefer the closed face. Previously, I used the Kovalchuk retail, which was perfect for "my shooting technique" (or lack thereof), but flawed in just about every other way (too short, no rocker, and the curve was a bit too close to the heel). When I shoot, I just flick my wrists, and do not roll them. When I try to roll them, I find that I take so much off of my shot, so it is a Catch 22. With a closed face, I need not roll my wrists, and can pick my spots with pretty good success.

So, despite the fact that I find every attribute of this stick rather ideal, I will be switching over to BASE, to give the Malkin 71 Pro Stock curve a shot, which looks to be rather closed at the face, and similar enough to everything that I have enjoyed about the W88, that I am optimistic that I will enjoy it.

So, if you are hard on your sticks in actual hockey movements, in game (and warmups), and skip all the extra curricular razing and tapping of the stick, and can find your pattern, then this is a rather nice stick at the one below top of the line price point. I have never actually used a $260 top of the line stick, so I would not know what it feels like, or is supposed to feel like. This is a pretty nice stick regardless.

Conclusion (57/60 = 95%)

Warrior makes quality sticks, and this is no exception. The Dagger taper is no joke- shots come off fast and hard. I just wish they would bring back the Gionta curve, or at least some sort of closed toe curve, with a rocker and everything else like the W88; and then Warrior would definitely have me hooked, as I appreciate the value that they offer of a true OPS at this price point (which no other major retailer offers, except TRUE, I believe).